Family Vacation

Last week we went on our first vacation as a family of four. It was a much needed break! Justin has been working so hard on his dissertation and hasn't really been able to spend a lot of time with us. We have also been very busy with getting the house ready to sell, so it was great to go away and not have any chores to do. We went to Hilton Head for the week and had a lot of fun. Here are some pictures from our trip.

Justin likes to build sand castles for his princess, and she loves to play in them!

"Laying out" for the first time on the beach:)

Alina loves to dig in the sand, she would spend all day out there if she could.

The condo/resort we stayed at had a lot of activities to do. Alina and I decorated a sand dollar one day. She loved using all the different colors.

Justin enjoyed the kayaking on the intercoastal waterway (which is what our resort was on, not the beach, which we actually preferred!) and exploring the islands. He didn't get to go as much as he wanted, but it was nice to have the option.

Justin and Alina enjoyed many hours at the indoor pool. She was a little iffy at first, but then didn't want to leave the pool. I spent some time laying out at the outdoor pool. Just me and a bunch of retired women. The nice thing about vacation at the beach in May, is that we were basically by ourselves!



Alina in her really big girl bed, a king size bed! She did fall out once, but it wasn't too bad.



This lagoon in front of our building had an alligator, which you will see in a later picture.

Beautiful view from our balcony!

We went on a boat ride on the intercoastal to Daufuskie Island. Most people went in the morning and came back in the evening, but we just went for the boat ride to and back. It was two hours long, which is just about 45 minutes longer than a two year old really needs to be on a boat! She did enjoy it on the way there and we got to see several dolphins. In the future, we may avoid activities where you can't get off when your two year old is clearly done! But overall it was fun, and everyone did well, including Nathanael who slept the whole time.

The beach can really take it out of you:)

Waiting for daddy to finish her sand castle. This girl loves the beach. She'll have to learn to love the mountains too:)

The alligator. (well the picture was here, and then I accidentally deleted it, I'll fix it soon)

On our last day we went to Harbour Town on the other end of the island to play and eat lunch. Alina got to play on a play ground and we ate another good seafood meal. Justin enjoyed several bowls of She-Crab soup on the trip, one of his favorite things to eat. We compared that and the crabcakes from everywhere we ate. Our favorite place in Hilton Head is the Sea Shack, we recommend getting your platter blackened. So good!!!

I can't believe we are now going on vacation with two kids in the back of the car. Its so weird to think that we are at that point, but its wonderful!